1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an ice making system for a refrigerator and more particularly to an ice making system mounted to a refrigerator closure member or door.
2. Description of Related Art
Automatic ice making systems for use in a home refrigerator are well known. Typically, ice making systems include an icemaker mounted within the freezer compartment of the refrigerator and an ice storage receptacle or bin supported beneath the ice maker for receiving the formed ice from the ice maker. The ice maker is commonly mounted within the freezer compartment adjacent the top or rear wall of the freezer compartment such that water and power can be readily supplied to the ice maker. U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,318, to Klemmensen is an example of a prior art ice making system.
As can be seen in Klemmensen, one aspect of conventional an ice making systems is that they occupy a relatively large amount of freezer shelf space. This is perceived as a disadvantage by many consumers who generally prefer to have more available shelf space. Accordingly, it would be an improvement to provide an ice making system which occupied less freezer shelf space.
Another aspect of conventional ice making systems is that they produce a fixed quantity of ice pieces. This leads to the problem of ice staleness for consumers who have relatively low ice consumption needs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,978, to Cole, discloses a common means used to limit the quantity of ice formed by the ice maker. In Cole, an ice quantity sensor comprising a sensing arm is periodically lowered into the ice storage receptacle for sensing the amount of ice supplied into the storage receptacle.
To avoid the problem of ice staleness, it is desirable to limit the amount of ice available based on individual consumers ice consumption. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,619,858 and 4,719,762 illustrate past efforts to provide flexibility in the amount of ice produced and supplied to an ice bin. These references teach the use of a variable height ice sensing arm.